A Bill for an Act to amend the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000 in connection with emerging technologies
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Geothermal and other Renewable Energy (Emerging Technologies) Bill 2009.
2 Commencement
This Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
3 Schedule(s)
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1 - Amendment of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000
1 Section 38B
Omit “The”, substitute “(1) Subject to subsection (2), the”.
2 At the end of section 38 B
Add:
(2) The regulations must determine a food processing activity, to the extent that it is trade-exposed, to be an emissions-intensive trade-exposed activity. The partial exemption of an emissions-intensive trade-exposed food processing activity for 2010 and any later year is to be calculated to be equal to 90% of the additional renewable source electricity acquisition obligation of the activity during the relevant year.
(3) In subsection (2):
additional renewable source electricity acquisition obligation means the amount of renewable source electricity that the activity is required to acquire under this Act after the commencement of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Act 2009 in addition to the amount of renewable source electricity that the activity was required to acquire under this Act before the commencement of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment Act 2009.
3 After paragraph 39(3)(a)
Insert:
(aa) for a year after 2014 and before 2031—the required GWh of emerging renewable energy source electricity for the year; and
4 At the end of Division 2 of Part 4
Add:
40A Required GWh of emerging renewable energy source electricity
(1) The required GWh of emerging renewable energy source electricity for a year is set out in the following table:
| Required GWh of emerging renewable energy source electricity |
| Year | GWh |
| 2015 | 1375 |
| 2016 | 2875 |
| 2017 | 4375 |
| 2018 | 5875 |
| 2019 | 7375 |
| 2020 | 8875 |
| 2021 | 8875 |
| 2022 | 8875 |
| 2023 | 8875 |
| 2024 | 8875 |
| 2025 | 8875 |
| 2026 | 8875 |
| 2027 | 8875 |
| 2028 | 8875 |
| 2029 | 8875 |
| 2030 | 8875 |
(2) The required GWh of emerging renewable energy source electricity for a year specified in subsection (1) is a component of the required GWh of renewable source electricity for that year specified in subsection 40(1).
(3) The following table sets out the emerging technologies and their features that qualify as providing emerging renewable energy source electricity for the purposes of subsection (1):
| Type of technology | |
| Solar thermal energy or Solar concentrator energy | · Evacuated-tube collectors · Parabolic-trough collectors · Dish/engine systems · Power towers · Transpired collectors (heating) |
| Geothermal energy | · Flash steam power plants · Dry steam power plants · Binary cycle power plants · Direct use geothermal (hot water systems) · Geothermal heat pumps (heating) |
| Ocean thermal energy | · Closed cycle electricity conversion systems · Open cycle electricity conversion systems · Hybrid systems (a combination of closed and open cycle systems) |
| Tidal energy | Wave energy conversion systems: · Channel systems · Float systems · Oscillating water column systems |
| Biofuels | · Bioethanol · Biodiesel · Methane (produced by anaerobic digestion) |
| Biopower (or Biomass power) | · Direct-fired biopower plants · Co-firing biopower plants · Gasification (e.g. Integrated Gasification Combines Cycle (IGCC) coal-based power generation) |
(4) The regulations may provide for additional emerging technologies to be added to the table in subsection (3).
(5) A generation unit for a technology listed in subsection (3) must be 1 MW capacity or greater to qualify as emerging capacity capable of providing emerging renewable energy source electricity for the purposes of subsection (1).
(6) The regulations must make provision for the inclusion of emerging renewable energy source electricity in relation to:
(a) the acquisition of electricity by a liable entity;
(b) the creation and transfer of certificates;
(c) the calculation of the renewable power percentage for a year;
(d) the required renewable energy of a liable entity for a year;
(e) the surrender of certificates by a liable entity for a year
(f) the renewable energy certificate shortfall of a liable entity for a year.